City: Quit Yer Bellyachin’, We Were Gonna Close Those Libraries Anyway
You know how, every so often, you’ll be having an argument with your S.O., and you come to find that the thing you are mad about is only the beginning of things you should be mad about? Well, this is kind of like that. After being roundly hammered by the likes of, well, you, us and everyone we know for the last week or so, The Budget Cuts Gang (that would be Mayor Nutter, Chief of Staff Clay Armbrister, Siobhan Reardon), finally piped up with why and how the cuts were made.
Siobhan Reardon, president and director of the Free Library of Philadelphia, told Council that it was her idea to shrink the library system to provide better service at existing libraries with fewer resources.
“What we came up with, I think, makes the most sense,” Reardon said.
Reardon said the library’s choices were based on: keeping all libraries open six days a week; ensuring that no resident lives more than two miles from a library; maintaining afterschool LEAP programs at all remaining facilities; and guaranteeing alternative resources and afterschool programs in communities where libraries are closing.
The decision on which libraries to close was based on how many people were served, afterschool program attendance, building size, and annual visits, Reardon said.
The administration argues that the closures are appropriate even without a budget crisis. Armbrister left little room for keeping libraries open, while leaving open the possibility of preserving public pools through private donations.
What? What! I don’t even believe you. I think I’m gonna go stay at my mother’s for a while. Yes, I think that may be the best thing. I can’t even process this right now.
Inky: Also We Cheated On You With Baltimore When You Were Passed Out After The Phillies Won
November 18th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
re: “The administration argues that the closures are appropriate even without a budget crisis. Armbrister left little room for keeping libraries open, while leaving open the possibility of preserving public pools through private donations.”
Wonder if that’s a direct qoute from the briefing/quorum meetings Nutter & Staff had with City Council recently that they felt weren’t covered by the Sunshine Laws.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
“During a briefing of City Council members on the budget, Reardon said the plan is to buy three bookmobiles to provide additional service. She said they will cost $160,000 each and take eight months to build.”
“Unlike the city pools slated for closure, the city plans to keep the libraries closed even if the budget rebounds. Camille Barnett said the city will consider other public uses for the buildings or sell them through the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation.”
Bookmobiles? Please. This is sickening. I say we try to get Reardon removed. She seems like a terrible custodian of the libraries.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Wait, and there’s more from the Inky:
“You can’t expand Fishtown Library,” Reardon said. “You can’t grow that building to be more open to teens, and we’re looking to reconfigure for things teens like, such as [video] gaming.”
Video gaming at a library! Come on. What is wrong with this woman? I’m already irritated that the libraries provide computers with games for toddler. WTF? I go there for the books and my kid wants to play video games.
There is something very wrong with Siobhan Reardon.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
“and guaranteeing alternative resources and afterschool programs in communities where libraries are closing”
like what?
November 18th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
another Reardon quote:
“You can’t expand Fishtown Library,” Reardon said. “You can’t grow that building to be more open to teens, and we’re looking to reconfigure for things teens like, such as [video] gaming.”
Reardon added that there was “never an agenda” to sell the shuttered library buildings, a charge leveled by library advocates.
“Getting money from building sales had nothing to do with the plan,” she said.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Reardon should be fired.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Look, we can all go yell at them in person! From kyw1060.com:
Nutter Will Hold Town Hall Meetings On Budget Cuts
by KYW’s Mike Dunn
Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter is going to give you the chance to give him (or his top aides) an earful about his controversial budget cuts.
That plan includes the closure of 11 libraries and 68 pools, and eliminates five Fire Department engines and two ladder trucks (see related story).
The mayor already been hearing complaints from activists and City Council members (see additional related story), but now he is willing to hear directly from residents about his plan to chop $100 million out of the current city budget.
Nutter says he will hold eight town meetings over the next few weeks, to give anyone a chance to sound off. But he is not promising that the input will prompt changes to the plan:
“We have a $108-million deficit in the current fiscal year. We have to make certain cuts just to get through the current fiscal year, let alone the years to come.”
Still, Nutter describes the meetings as a two-way exchange.
Meetings will be held from 7pm to 8:30pm each evening. Here is the full list:
Tuesday, November 25th
South Philadelphia High School
2101 S. Broad Street
Monday, December 1st
Kensington High School
2051 E. Cumberland Street
Tuesday, December 2nd
School of the Future
4021 Parkside Avenue
Monday, December 8th
John Perzel Community Center
2990 St. Vincent Street
Tuesday, December 9th
Roxborough Memorial Hospital
Wolcroff Auditorium
5800 Ridge Avenue
Wednesday, December 10th
Benjamin Franklin High School
550 N. Broad Street
Tuesday, December 16th
Kingsessing Recreation Center
5100 Chester Avenue
Thursday, December 18th
Martin Luther King High School
6100 Stenton Avenue
November 18th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
to say that they cant work with the facilities they have just shows a lack of imagination. and if it truly is as it seems – that public pools are ranked higher in importance than libraries, i’m dumbfounded.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
“You can’t expand Fishtown Library,” Reardon said. “You can’t grow that building to be more open to teens, and we’re looking to reconfigure for things teens like, such as [video] gaming.”
As a teenager, I couldn’t disagree more. If that’s credible for anything anymore.
November 18th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
When was the 50+ branch local library system developed? If this system was developed to service a population of 2 million Philadelphians, are these library branch closing really about scaling back city services to reflect current population levels and usage? One can argue priorities (or use a crisis situation to hammer through unpopular policy), but it is surely difficult to maintain service levels for 2 million people with only 1.5 million persons as a taxbase.